Barnes & Noble Chairman Leonard Riggio to Receive Honorary Doctorate of
Humane Letters at C.W. Post Commencement

Brookville, N.Y. – Leonard Riggio, chairman of Barns & Noble Inc. and a prominent advocate for education, will receive an honorary doctorate of humane letters at the 48th Commencement ceremonies at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 14, 2006.

In addition to being chairman of Barnes & Noble Inc., a Fortune 500 company and the world’s largest bookseller, Riggio is the chairman and principal shareholder of several privately held companies, including Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, serving more than 500 college and universities across America.

Beginning with a single college bookstore in 1965, Riggio built one of the largest enterprises in the history of American retail. He has also served on nearly two dozen not-for-profit boards including the Children’s Defense Fund, the Black Children’s Community Crusade, and the Italian American Foundation. Currently, he is chairman of the board of the Dia Art Foundation, an internationally renowned art institution.

Riggio is a member of the board of the New York Fund for Public Schools. In addition, he led the first-ever campaign in America to raise $10 million for a public high school, Brooklyn Technical High School, from which he graduated in 1958.

Riggio has received numerous awards, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Frederick Douglass Medallion. In November 2002, he received the Americanism Award from the Anti-Defamation League, its highest honor. The award cited his work “to celebrate diversity and make the dream of freedom and equality a reality for so many Americans.”

Riggio is the recipient of honorary doctorate degrees from Baruch College of the City University of New York and Bentley College. He has been inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs at Babson College and the Texas A&M Retail Hall of Fame. He also lectures regularly on college campuses, has delivered several commencement addresses, and has been the keynote speaker to numerous educational and business groups across the country.

Riggio is married to Louise Gebbia Riggio, who graduated from Long Island University's Brooklyn Campus in 1969, and has three children and three grandchildren.

More than 2,300 students will graduate on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 14, 2006 at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University’s 48th commencement exercises. The Campus has awarded more than 92,000 degrees in its 51-year history, through a broad range of undergraduate and graduate programs. The Class of 2006 includes 949 baccalaureate degree candidates, 1,376 master's degree candidates, 16 graduates receiving the Psy.D. in clinical psychology and three receiving the Ph.D. in information studies. This year, C.W. Post’s commencement ceremonies also include graduates from Southampton College and the Southampton Graduate Campus of Long Island University.